Hundreds of veterans and their families who have spent eight years in federal court trying to prove that burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan made U.S. troops sick are worried they’ll hit a legal dead end if a Maryland judge decides the company that ran the smoke-belching disposal sites can’t be sued because it was working on behalf of the government.

“It’s been a living hell, emotionally, financially and physically,” said Rosie Torres, whose husband, LeRoy, a former Army Reserve captain, was diagnosed with a debilitating, progressive lung disease after he returned home to Texas following a deployment to Iraq. “It is the war that followed us home.” Veterans who say ‘burn pit’ exposure

A bipartisan deal in the House Veterans Affairs Committee may pave the way to the “Forever GI Bill,” in what’s being billed as the most sweeping change in nearly a decade to one of the bedrock benefits of military service.